Lesson #1, Holy Days, Passover, Exodus 12.1 - 14

Good Questions Have Groups Talking
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If you have some readers in your group, you might ask them to do a little research on the various theories of dating the Exodus.

Exodus 12.1 - 14

OPEN

Let’s each share your name and what is your favorite holiday and why?

DIG

1.       Context. About what year is this?

I continually repeat four dates as I teach the Old Testament:

• Ÿ  2000 — approximate time of Abraham
• Ÿ  1000 — David
• Ÿ  722 — Fall of the Northern Kingdom (Israel)
• Ÿ  587 — Fall of the Southern Kingdom (Judah)

There is some debate about when to date the Exodus. Conservative scholars put it around 1447. Others put in around 1260.

2.       Another context question. How old is Moses? What do you recall about his life prior to this?

In the opinion of some Jewish rabbis, forty was the age at which a man had grown to maturity. Moses’ life is divided into three parts: the first 40 years in the palace of Pharaoh, the second 40 years in the desert, and the third 40 years carrying out God’s will to deliver His people. Moses began his period of wilderness training after he had tried to free the Israelites in a way that God had not chosen. We must be careful to do God’s work in God’s way, in God’s time, and for God’s reasons. It has been said that Moses spent 40 years thinking he was somebody, then spent 40 years finding out he was nobody. Finally, he spent 40 years finding out what God could do with somebody who was nobody. — The NKJV Study Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2007), Ac 7:23–29.

3.       What does the Passover have to do with us?

You say, “Greg, this is interesting, but this is a feast given to the Jews hundreds of years ago. What does it have to do with me today?” All of this points to Jesus Christ. Understand that the death of Jesus was not an afterthought on the part of the Lord. It was God’s purpose from the very beginning. Revelation 13:8 says of Jesus, “He was the lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” The Passover feast pointed to Jesus Christ. In fact, in 1 Corinthians 5:7 it says, “Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.” — Greg Laurie, The Greg Laurie Sermon Archive (Riverside, CA: Harvest Ministries, 2014).

4.       Is this Passover meal something we should do, or just read about?

Each year our small group observes a Christian Passover. The evening has become a valued and much anticipated tradition as it brings to life the symbols and fulfillment of the Passover.

Years ago, while studying Exodus, I decided to prepare a Passover dinner for my family. That first year our celebration was very basic. I had no idea where to start except with the story itself in Exodus 12. I planned the meal around lamb—which I had never cooked before—and unleavened bread, adding some other dishes to make it a complete dinner.

That night, my husband took a bowl of water and a branch from a bush onto the front porch. We all watched him paint the doorframe as he explained the protection this "blood" offered the Israelites. We then discussed the Passover events and the symbols of the meal while we ate. We compared them to the events of Jesus’ last Passover with His disciples and talked about Jesus as our Passover lamb.

The next year, I called a local rabbi to ask about the foods and symbols in a traditional Jewish Passover meal. Over the years, as we invited friends to join us, we refined our celebration further. Soon our small group got involved. Some explored the Jewish Passover service and culled messianic Passover resources to produce a script for our celebration; others found recipes for some of the traditional foods. It has now become a yearly tradition as different families host the group. We often invite a family or two from outside our church, giving us a great opportunity to explain the biblical story. — Discipleship Journal, Issue 128 (March/April 2002) (NavPress, 2002).

5.       Here is a question I could ask every week: how could we turn this passage into a prayer? How could we pray in response to this passage? Christianity is about a relationship. God speaks to us through His Word. We speak to Him in prayer. As we read our Bible each day, we want to pray about what we read about. How could we pray about this if this were the section in our daily Quiet Time?

Lord God, You commanded that the Passover lamb shall be without blemish. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel should kill it at twilight. And they should take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. You promised that when You saw the blood, You would pass over those homes. Jesus’ blood of sprinkling was spilled, and Christ, my Passover, was sacrificed for me. Thus He was delivered by Your determined purpose and foreknowledge, Lord God … and according to Your own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.

I have redemption through Jesus’ blood, the forgiveness of sins.

Therefore, since Christ suffered for me in the flesh, I arm myself also with the same mind, for I have suffered in the flesh and have ceased from sin, that I no longer should live the rest of my time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. — David Jeremiah, Life-Changing Moments With God (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2007), 233.

6.       Verse 2. What changed with the Passover?

God was establishing a new calendar rooted in theology rather than in natural cycles. The month of Passover was first called Abib (13:4; 23:15), then, after the captivity, Nisan (Neh. 2:1; Esth. 3:7). It overlaps with the modern months of March and April. — W. A. Criswell et al., eds., Believer’s Study Bible, electronic ed. (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1991), Ex 12:2.

7.       Can you think of another time God rearranged the calendar?

Monumental as it was, the Passover would not be the only event which would turn the calendar on its head, for when the Incarnation divided the global calendar into B.C. and A.D.—Before Christ and The Year of our Lord—all of history was impacted. But there is a time yet to come when antichrist will seek to change the calendar again in order to eradicate the name of Jesus altogether (Daniel 7:25). We’re seeing a hint of this even today as the terms C.E. or B.C.E.—Common Era and Before Common Era—are increasingly used in Europe as replacements for A.D. and B.C. Has your calendar been changed personally? If so, no doubt you look at your life Before Christ and see yourself as a Neanderthal without Him. — Jon Courson, Jon Courson’s Application Commentary: Volume One: Genesis–Job (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2005), 264.

8.       Verses 2 – 6. What was the point of slaughtering this lamb?

The net of salvation grows ever wider in Scripture. In Genesis 4, Abel offered a lamb for a man. Here in Exodus 12, the children of Israel were to offer a lamb for a family. In Exodus 29, the priests were to offer a lamb for a nation. And in John 1, we see a Lamb who came to be offered for the whole world. — Jon Courson, Jon Courson’s Application Commentary: Volume One: Genesis–Job (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2005), 264.

9.       Verse 12. Why was God going to kill every first-born of the Egyptians?

What God did to the Egyptians was no surprise, but what may seem surprising is the way he treated his people Israel. Like the Egyptians, the Israelites were under a sentence of death. The same night that God brought death to every house in Egypt, he also visited the home of every Israelite (Exod. 12:13, 23), with the purpose of killing their firstborn sons. In his mercy, of course, God provided his people with a way to escape his wrath. But first we must reckon with the fact that “the destroyer,” as God calls him (Exod. 12:23), claimed the right to slay the children of Israel. — Philip Graham Ryken and R. Kent Hughes, Exodus: Saved for God’s Glory (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2005), 326.

10.   We always do well to read the Bible with an ear for emotion. Imagine you are Jew living in this day. Moses declares what God has said in verses 12, 13. How are you feeling?

The Israelites must have been shocked to discover that their lives were in danger. All the previous plagues had left them unscathed because God had made a distinction between his people and Pharaoh’s people. While chaos engulfed their oppressors, the Israelites had watched from the safety of Goshen. From this they learned that they were God’s special people. This may have tempted them to believe that they were more righteous than the Egyptians, indeed, that they could do no wrong. But the truth was that they deserved to die every bit as much as their enemies. Indeed, if God had not provided a means for their salvation, they would have suffered the loss of every last one of their firstborn sons. The Israelites were as guilty as the Egyptians, and in the final plague God taught them about their sin and his salvation. — Philip Graham Ryken and R. Kent Hughes, Exodus: Saved for God’s Glory (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2005), 326.

11.   Why would God kill his own people—if it were not for the blood?

God’s people had sinned in several ways. One was to reject the word of God’s prophet. When Moses returned from his first audience with Pharaoh, the Israelites greeted him by saying, “May the LORD look upon you and judge you! You have made us a stench to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us” (Exod. 5:21). Neither the Egyptians nor the Israelites would listen to God’s word. Thus Alec Motyer writes that “when the wrath of God is applied in its essential reality, no one is safe. There were two nations in the land of Egypt, but they were both resistant to the word of God; and if God comes in judgment none will escape.”

The Israelites were also guilty of idolatry. That sin is not specifically mentioned here in Exodus, but it was remembered for years to come. When the Israelites renewed the covenant at Shechem, Joshua said, “Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD” (Josh. 24:14). Not surprisingly, during their long centuries of captivity, the Israelites grew to love the gods of Egypt. And for this sin God would have been justified in plaguing them, even to the death of their firstborn sons.

However, apart from any particular sin they may have committed, God’s people were sinners by nature. The mere fact of their humanity meant that they participated in the guilt of Adam’s race. The Bible teaches that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). The first Passover proved that fact by implicating Israel in Egypt’s sin, thereby showing that “Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin” (Rom. 3:9).

The reason the avenging angel visited the Israelites was because, like the Egyptians, they were sinners, and sin is a capital offense. The proper penalty for it is death, which has always been “the wages of sin” (Rom. 6:23). When God planted Adam in the Garden of Eden, he said, “You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die” (Gen. 2:17). Sadly, this is exactly what happened. As soon as our first parents ate the forbidden fruit, they became mortal, and so did all their children, down to the present generation. This fact would seem to demand some sort of explanation. In the entire history of our race, no generation has ever avoided going down to the grave. Why not? The Bible explains it like this: “death came to all men, because all sinned” (Rom. 5:12). The tenth plague was a sign of God’s judgment against all humanity. — Philip Graham Ryken and R. Kent Hughes, Exodus: Saved for God’s Glory (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2005), 326–327.

12.   We always want to read the Bible for application. What is the application for us?

This is a reality that every individual must face. If all have sinned, that obviously includes us. And if death has come to all people, then we too can expect to die. It is as simple as that. We will never see our need of salvation until we accept that we are as guilty as everyone else, and that therefore our lives are forfeit to God.

One person who came to understand this was Major-League baseball player Damion Easley. Easley was riding on an airplane when he overheard some teammates on the Angels talking about God. They were sitting several rows behind him, and he heard one of them ask, “If this plane were to crash right now, would you go to Heaven?” This made Easley uncomfortable because he wasn’t sure. So he walked back and sat right behind his teammates, hoping to get some answers. He couldn’t understand what they were talking about, however, so he started asking more questions: “What’s the deal about God? What’s this all about?” By the time the flight was over, Easley had given his life to Jesus Christ. It all started with the recognition that, like Israel in Egypt, he was under the sentence of death for his sins. — Philip Graham Ryken and R. Kent Hughes, Exodus: Saved for God’s Glory (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2005), 327.

13.   Verse 11. Picture this. Eating with their cloaked tucked in their belt. What is that about?

First of all, they were to eat with their loins girded. God's people were to be prepared to leave within a few hours. Girded loins meant that their robes were tucked in, ready for movement, walking, running, or as a soldier for battle. Ungirded garments would be weights and hindrances. — Mattoon's Treasures – Treasures from Exodus, Volume 1.

14.   Again, what is the application for us?

As Christians, we too, are reminded to remove hindrances from our lives. We are to also be ready for service which is typified in the girded loins.

 Hebrews 12:1-2—... Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, [2] Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Bad habits, bitterness, temper tantrums, addictions, selfishness, pride, and lying are to be laid aside and forsaken. They are weights.

Romans 12:11—Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;

Ephesians 6:14—Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

Mattoon's Treasures – Treasures from Exodus, Volume 1.

15.   Why did they need to eat with their shoes on?

The Jews were to have shoes on their feet. This seems particularly mentioned by the Lord because it was not customary at meal time. This custom continues today. As they do not use tables and chairs as we do in America and Europe, but have their floors covered with carpets, they throw off their shoes when they enter their homes lest they should soil those beautiful pieces of furniture.

The Israelites were to have their shoes on, because they were about to commence their journey. Shoes would affect their walk. Beloved, God wants our walk to be right and challenges us to walk with Him.

Romans 10:15—And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

Ephesians 6:15—And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

Romans 6:4—Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

2 Corinthians 5:7—(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)

Galatians 5:16—This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

We find that the Lord took care of God's people as they walked through the wilderness.

1. There was no swelling in their feet.

Deuteronomy 8:4—Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years.

2. Their shoes did not fall apart.

Deuteronomy 29:5—And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot.

Mattoon's Treasures – Treasures from Exodus, Volume 1.

16.   Why the staff in their hand?

The Jews were also to have their staffs in their hands. The staff speaks of the pilgrim life. God's people are pilgrims. Thank God, this is not our final home.

1 Peter 2:11—Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;

What is the life of a pilgrim like?

A. Pilgrims travel light. They are not bogged down with great weight.

B. Their encounters are difficult with beasts and dangerous terrain.

1 Peter 5:8—Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

C. A pilgrim has no permanent home on earth.

Philippians 3:20—For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:

D. Wilderness life also has times of quietness, beauty, and meditation about the Lord.

E. The pilgrim is ready to travel at a moment's notice. As Christians, we are to be ready for the Rapture of the church when we will be removed within the blink of an eye. This could happen today.

1 Corinthians 15:52—In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17—... For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: [17] Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Something else we want to note here. Notice that it is the Lord's Passover. Emphasis is usually upon Christ's death manward, but little on the effects Godward. The demand for the death of the innocent to atone for sin glorified God, revealing His holiness and hatred for sin. The lamb appeased Him and satisfied His justice and magnified His holiness. Christ is our Passover, given to us by God. He provided the final lamb for us by giving us His only begotten Son.

1 Corinthians 5:7—Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:

Mattoon's Treasures – Treasures from Exodus, Volume 1.

17.   What do we learn about New Testament theology from this story?

To illustrate the principle of substitution, George Sweeting, chancellor of Moody Bible Institute, told of a series of tornados that caused extensive damage in eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania. Nearly one hundred lives were lost. Before the storm, a man named David Kostka was umpiring a Little League baseball game in Wheatland, Pennsylvania. When he saw the black funnel heading toward the field, he rushed into the stands and grabbed his niece. He pushed her into a nearby ditch and covered her with his body. Then the tornado struck. When the youngster looked up, her uncle was gone. He had given his life in the deadly storm to save her.

Many lambs gave their lives in ancient Egypt so the death angel would pass over the homes of the Hebrews. Years later the Lamb of God gave his life to cover the sins of all those who by faith would receive his gift of salvation.

Jesus' sacrifice can be studied and contemplated, but until a person applies the blood of Christ by faith to his or her own heart, there is no hope of eternity in his presence in heaven. The writer of Hebrews declared, "By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel" (Heb. 11:28). What did Moses have faith in? The answer is God's word, his revelation to Moses. God said it; he believed it. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. You cannot ignore the truth from God's promises and have this kind of peace, security, and hope. — Holman Old Testament Commentary – Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers.

18.   John 13.1. Why do think Jesus was crucified on the Passover?

God does nothing by chance. It’s noteworthy that Jesus, our substitutionary Lamb, was crucified at Passover. And the Holy Spirit was given on the day that celebrates the giving of the Law and the first fruits of harvest. On that day "about 3,000 were added" to the fledgling church (Acts 2:41). — Discipleship Journal, Issue 145 (January/February 2005) (NavPress, 2005).

19.   What do you want to recall from today’s conversation?

20.   How can we support one another in prayer this week?